It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn
by MordsithGoddess
Summary: When Ron, Hermione's husband of ten years, dies she changes her name and moves to the muggle world. Little did she know, for reasons of his own, Draco Malfoy has done the same. When they meet will Hermione find love in the arms of a handsome stranger?
1. Preperation

A/N: I'm not sure if this idea has been done or not, and if it has, sorry for taking your idea, and please let me know!  
  
Disclaimer: *Sigh* Do we really need to do this? We all know that EVERYTHING in this story belongs to JKR and not me.  
  
  
  
Prolouge  
  
  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
  
  
Hermione sat in the middle of her half-empty living room, choking back tears as she slowly packed her things into boxes. After Ron, her husband of ten years, had died in an Auror attack two months ago, she decided that she wanted nothing more to do with the wizarding world, or her past. She had quit her job with the Ministry of Magic a week ago, and had already bought a house in muggle France; she was going to go and have her name changed tomorrow.  
  
There was a small pop behind her, and she looked up to see Harry standing there.  
  
He smiled softly as he asked, "Are you feeling any better?"  
  
She shook her head miserably and sat the picture she had been holding on the floor while trying, and failing, to keep her chin from wobbling.  
  
His smile slowly slid off his face as he said, "Are you sure you want to do this Hermione? I mean, that's 17 years of your life straight down the drain if you start over. And you've never worked in the Muggle world before. I won't know how to get ahold of you if you're needed. You'd be lost."  
  
Her voice was strained and he could tell she was about to cry as she said, "I'm already lost, Harry. I don't know where to go, or what to do. I just can't seem to do anything..." Her voice cracked, "without him."  
  
She buried her face into her hands as tears started to slide down her cheeks.  
  
"Hey now, come on, it's okay. Shhhh, it's okay." He sat down on the floor by her and gathered her into his arms. "Shhh, don't cry. It's hard, I know, but shhhh. He wouldn't want you to be unhappy."  
  
"I know, I know," she sobbed into his shoulder as he rocked her back and forth, "but I miss him so much. It's like part of me died with him."  
  
"I know," he whispered, catching sight of the picture Hermione had sat down that had been taken of the three of them at graduation, with all of them happy, smiling, and waving merrily up at him, Hermione's emgagement ring flashing in the sunlight.  
  
"I miss him too."  
  
  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
  
  
Draco coldly handed the key to the goblin behind the desk in Gringotts.  
  
"Vault 217. Draco Malfoy."  
  
The goblin inspected the key before handing it back and turning to bellow at one of his co-workers to take Draco down to his vault.  
  
As Draco climbed into the cart, he put his face into his hands and thought about what he was doing. Seeing as how he was sick of his father ruling his life, sick of always listening to the 'Great Lord Voldemort' about killing and pure-blood and the like, and sick of being twenty-seven bloody years old, and still not able to get away from his father and his 'Lord', he was leaving. He would gather all of the money out of his vault, change his name, and, seeing as how he could be found by Voldemort anywhere in the Wizarding world, ('As I found out,' he thought cruelly to himself while touching the scar on his side), he was going to go to the Muggle world.  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut tighter than they already were as he realized with a sickening thought that if he could have brought himself to their level, he would have killed both of the bastards already.  
  
"Here we are, Sir," the Goblin spoke, shaking Draco out of his morbid thoughts. Draco climbed slowly out of the cart, actually realizing for the first time that he was going to go and live somewhere where he had no idea 'how' to live. Shaking his head as if to shake his thoughts out of it, he turned and opened the door to his vault and began raking all of the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts into a sack.  
  
  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
  
  
A/N: I know that this was SUPER short, but it's just the prologue, just to explain what's happening. The next chapter's going to be a few months in the future, and it'll probably have Hermione and Draco meeting in it. This could POSSIBLY turn NC-17, but it won't be for awhile, and i'm still not sure about it. I would like 5 reviews before I post the next chapter. BTW, constructive critisism is ALWAYS welcome, but DON'T flame me, for you will get a seriously wacky author bugging you to death about why you did. Wind to thy wings, friend! 


	2. Ghosts from the Past

A/N: Hi! I dedicate this chapter here to Alybaby for her birthday, which is the two year anniversary of when I started this story. Thanks for getting me writing again!  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Hermione sat on a stool in a small cafe in London, with a small smile playing on her lips as she swirled her coffee to the beat of the rain that was coming down outside. It had been two years since she had moved away from the magical world and everyone in it, and she was rather happy on her own.   
  
She didn't own much, since she did something typically Hermione and got a job at a small but prestigous bookstore downtown, but she did have her own place. It wasn't fancy, and it was only 4 rooms, but it was home. She figured Ron would have liked it.   
  
A small sigh escaped her lips at the thought of her late husband, but she had learned to remember the good times, and not dwell on everything they would miss.   
  
She had even dated a few times, trying to move forward with her life, but there wasn't any sparks. Sure, it had been a few nice evenings, but she couldn't imagine spending her life with any of them, and after ten years of marriage, anything less would have just ended up with everyone hurt.  
  
She absently noticed the door bells jingle cheerfully as someone stepped inside, letting in the smell of spring rain. She continued to dwell in her thoughts until someone hit her elbow with his hip, causing her to knock her cup of coffee over.  
  
"Oh!" she exclaimed in suprise. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a flash of blonde hair when she went to reach for the napkins.  
  
"I'm sorry about that. Here let me help you," said the man that had bumped her. It was then that she turned to look at him. As she did, a feeling of de-ja-vu swept over her, and she almost cringed in the expectation to hear the word 'Mudblood' fall from his lips.   
  
It had been seventh year, only a week after Ron had proposed, when Draco Malfoy had done the same thing. She had been reaching for her juice when something hit her from behind, causing her to knock it over. She had only sighed when she heard that drawl.  
  
"Mudblood, how clumsy of you. You should know better than to play with your food. But then I guess muggle parents wouldn't know anything about manners." He sneered as Ron and Harry both jumped out of their chairs, wands raised.   
  
"Oh, what's this? Both of you are going to protect her? There is only enough room on that chubby finger for one engagement ring. So, who popped the question?" His face grew slightly disgusted.  
  
"Or did one of you mean it for the other, and just put it on the Mudblood's finger to save face?" Ron's face grew red from anger, and Harry looked ready to drop his wand altogether, and pummel Malfoy with his fist.  
  
Hermione had had enough. She stood and stuck her finger in Malfoy's face. He looked slightly suprised, but quickly covered it with his trademark sneer.  
  
"Malfoy, why don't you mind your own business? I can marry whomever I please, and it is of absolutely no concern to you. So just take your slimey self back to the Slytherin table, and leave my finace, best-friend, and me alone? No-one wants you here."  
  
His face had darkened with each word, and by the time she was done, he was practically vibrating with rage. He reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly, jerking her forward until her face was only an inch from his.  
  
"Don't push me Mudblood. You don't want to start something you can't handle." She pushed her face even closer, having to tilt her chin up a little bit, since he was taller than her.  
  
"There's nothing you can do that I couldn't handle Malfoy. Don't threaten me. It won't work." He could pratically feel the sparks the were coming from her eyes. He glared right back, never blinking, never loosening his hold on her wrist.  
  
A hand touched her arm, and she jerked, pulling herself out of her memories, as she tried to re-adjust to the world around her.   
  
"Excuse me," she asked, confusion on her face. The man smiled at her, and it was then that she realized why she felt like he looked like Malfoy. They had the same structure to their face, the same color hair and eyes, and there mouth was shaped the same way. Of course, she had never seen Malfoy smile, so she didn't know if they had the same smile or not. They could have had the same nose, only this man's had been broken and didn't seem to have healed straight. It didn't seem to take away from his looks though, as it took the sharp perfection that could have been there, and turned it into something more rugged.  
  
"I asked if you were alright. You seemed, well, frightened of me," he said, his eyes seeming to twinkle at her.  
  
"Oh yes, yes, i'm fine. I'm sorry about that. You just reminded me of someone I used to know. You look alot like him." She smiled at him then, trying not to stare, and took the napkin he handed her and started to mop up the mess.  
  
He watched her clean the table, noticing just how pretty the woman truely was. A slightly upturned nose, high cheekbones, soft brown eyes, and lips that looked as if they were meant to smile. She wasn't someone who would turn every head when she walked into a room, but when she smiled, she seemed to shine, and it could make any man look at least twice. But when she reached up to tuck a stray brown curl behind her ear, he realized that she reminded him of someone too.  
  
"Yes," he said absently, mind working away at trying to remember who it was that she looked like. "You seem to remind me of someone too." She glanced at him then, a slightly troubled look, before she quickly looked again at the table.  
  
That sent his curiousity bells ringing. He had to figure out who this woman was.  
  
"Here, let me buy you another one, as i've wasted yours," he spoke, as he picked the soggy napkins up and tossed them into the trash-can beside the counter.   
  
"Oh, no, I couldn't. Thank you though." He gently grasped her elbow as she looked to be starting to slip away towards the door.   
  
"I insist." Hermione could do nothing but nod as the hand on her back gently propelled her along towards the register. She was working furiously in her head, trying to figure out ehy he would know her. If he did, he had to be from the magical world, for she had made sure that she didn't draw attention to herself in this one.  
  
"Order whatever you like," he told her, glancing at the waitress behind the register when she flashed him a bright smile and a wink. He gave her a cold nod in return, and returned to watching the small woman in front of him as she told the waitress what she wanted.  
  
The waitress was only one of many women who gave him inviting looks. In his younger days he would have given her a big smile back, and set right to work at tumbling her into a bed somewhere. Now, he simply accepted that women, and the occasional man, liked his looks and went on. He had discovered that if there was anything worthwhile in their heads, they wouldn't take one look at him and decide that he was the one they wanted. He knew, because he used to be one of those people who saw a pretty face and couldn't keep his pants up. He knew exactly how shallow people thought.  
  
"Would you like to get a booth, so we can talk," he asked the woman, as she picked up her coffee, who looked suprised, but catiously nodded. Smiling a bigger smile at her, he motioned for her to lead the way as he laid down the money for the drink. He only shook his head as the waitress flashed him another smile, before she went to check on a couple in the corner.  
  
He walked to the booth where she had sat down, and noticed that she had gotten closest to the door, which would be an easy escape in this rain.  
  
They sat there for a few moments in silence, the voices of the other people murmuring in the background.  
  
"So," she finally asked, "What did you want to talk about?" He blinked before he remembered that he had said he wanted to talk.  
  
"Well," he said slowly, "I'm not exactly sure. But we both think we resemble someone we used to know, so how about...where did you go to school?" The woman's eyes flashed something, but it was gone before he could figure out what it was.  
  
"Actually, I was home schooled for most of my time, before I went to a small private school in my hometown. You probably wouldn't have heard of it. How about you? Did you grow up around here?" The man seemed to hesitate for a second.  
  
"Oh around here and there. I moved alot. I attended several schools throughout the years. You probably wouldn't have heard of any of them, either." She nodded and sipped her coffee as they fell back into a semi-uncomfortable silence. He decided to try again at conversation.  
  
"So, any great accomplishments? You know, write a book, kill someone, make tables float?" He grinned at her. "I think i've set a record for being the most clumsy individual in existence."  
  
Trying to slow her heart down from the 'make tables float' joke he had made, she forced a smile. Could he be a wizard? Was he sent here to find her, and was trying to trick her into reveleing herself?  
  
"Actually," she said, "I did write a book once." She glanced down at the table. "It was back when I was married, before my husband died." She looked back up at him, and could read the sympathy in his face. Not wanting to see the pity, she looked away again.  
  
"I'm sorry. May I ask what happend?" She nodded, blinking for a second as she had a flash-back of a face that looked exactly like his sneering. Shaking her head slightly, she tried to put Draco's face out of her head.  
  
"He was a...police man. They were doing a raid one night, and he was...shot." He noticed the slight hesitation before her words, but decided not to say anything about it.  
  
"Well, it was nice talking to you, and I thank you for the coffee, but I have work in about 30 minutes, so I need to go." He watched, his curiousty tingling in the back of his mind. He couldn't just let her walk out that door.  
  
"Wait. Please, what's your name? I'd like to see you again, if it's ok. Where do you work? Where can I find you?" She turned and started to tell him no thanks, that it wasn't ok to see her again, when the words died on her lips. She stared into warm silver eyes that were pleading with her to stay, and she felt an attraction she hadn't felt since she realized that she was in love with Ron. Her face flushed as she realized that she had been staring at him, as if she was star-struck.  
  
"I...yes, it's ok. I work at 'The Bookshelf' over on the other side of town. I'll get off tomorrow at five if you want to stop by." He smiled at her.  
  
"I have a better idea. How about I do stop by, but I take you to dinner. Would that be ok? Nothing fancy, I promise." He held his smile, hopeing that she would say yes.  
  
"All right. That sounds nice. I'll see you at five tomorrow then." She picked up her bag that had been resting next to her feet, that he hadn't realized she had with her. When she hoisted it onto her shoulder. the alarm bells started going off again, this time making him want to hit the table. It was like trying to remember a name you had forgotten. He supposed, in a way, that was exactly what he was trying to do.  
  
She paused at the door, and looked back over her shoulder at him standing there. Her heart gave a slight flutter, and she decided that yes, there was some attraction there. She smiled as she waved, and then ducked out the door and disappeared into the rain.  
  
He stared after her, not sure why it was so important to him to find out who she was. He was jolted out of his reverie as he felt a hand snake around his waist. He turned sharply to find the waitress standing there.  
  
"Is there...anything...I can get you?" She raised her eyebrow in a way that left little doubt as to what she was referring to. Trying to not give her a disgusted look, he shook her off his arm, and walked out of the coffee shop, with the bells jangling cheerfully behind him.  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
A/N: Yep, nearly two years later, here is chapter two. It's not very long, but i'll try to post often enough to make up for it. I promise it won't take another two before I post the next chapter. I'd like a beta-reader, if anyone is interested. I'd also like a plot idea, since i'm no good at those. And on to the thank-yous!  
  
Kay: Hey, first reviewer! I hope you're still interested. Thank you for you review, and I hope you send in more!  
  
Tenebrae: Haven't heared from you in a while! You still around? Thanks for reviewing, and IM me sometime if you get around to it!  
  
Akili Daniels: Hey! Thank you! I think your story is awesome! I hope you come back and read this!  
  
Thorned Rose: Lol, way over five, and you are completely right, it would be a waste to let this sit here and go no-where. I hope you come back and read this chapter! Thanks!  
  
TroubleMaker: Lol, it's been more like years. It's awesome that you like my stuff. Thank you so much. I hope you like this chapter as much.  
  
MorganMalfoy: Thank you! Lol, I don't know about a plot, I couldn't write one of those if it danced around me naked bonking me over the head with a frying pan. Thank you again!  
  
Anonymous: Thank you so much! I hope you like this just as much!  
  
Toni: Lol, hey girl. Remind me again how I ever talked you into to reading this? You avoid written work like the plague. Your review was sweet, and thank you for it. Of course, you're probably going to beat me for not calling you, but hey. That's ok, 'cause you a featherdancer! Haha! Luv ya!  
  
Devil666: Thanks for reviewing! And I know, I need all the help I can get! I kind of described Hermione's looks in this chapter, and i'll get to Ron's death, but the house had nothing to do with this story, and Harry won't play a part until much later. Thank you though! If you have any other things you think I need to do, please tell me!  
  
Demon_Child2: *Smile* I promise i'll try. Thank you for reviewing.  
  
Kleopatra: Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'm pretty sure that I have read your story before, but i'm going to go back and read it again, if you still have it up. I'll send you a review. Thanks!  
  
NumberOneNightOwl: Lol, I know, I know. I'm the laziest person I know. I'm so sorry I didn't update this sooner. I hope you like this chapter too!  
  
Alybaby: *Sigh* I sincerely apologize. I should have done this last year for your birth-day, and I didn't. So, this is for you. I dedicate this story for you. You got me writing again, got me wanting to write again, and i'm not sure why, but you did. So thank you, for your review, and for motivating me!  
  
*My e-mail is mordsith_goddess@yahoo.com if anyone wants to e-mail me. I really do love getting e-mail! Thank you for reading this!* 


	3. Sunset's Memories

A/N: Lol, once again, this is for AlyBaby, who was my inspiration, and I'm proud to say is now my beta-reader! It's been so long since I posted that I'm not going to do individual thank yous, but I will whenever the next chapter comes out. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Even if I wish on a star while standing on my head, it still won't be mine. Ah well.

Hermione took a deep breath as she slid the last book from the latest shipment onto the shelf. The familiar smell of ink on paper was as comforting to her as it had always been, and it helped her calm her nerves. Worrying about the date she was going to go on in about fifteen minutes was getting her quite flustered indeed. Telling herself to calm down, she slowly walked around the bookstore straightening slightly crooked books on shelves, wiping away a bit of missed dust that always seems to collect despite everyone's best efforts to stop it. 

Glancing at her watch, her mouth grew slightly dry. Only seven minutes until he was here. She dropped her face into her hands and shifted her hips until all her weight was on one foot, and rotated her other ankle slowly. Firmly reprimanding herself for worrying about something like a silly little date that wasn't going to go anywhere anyway, she raised her head from her hands, and smoothed her shirt out.

'Not going to go anywhere, huh?' whispered a little voice inside her head. 'Then I guess it was just me that felt your heart constrict yesterday.' Hermione slowly sank into a chair that was positioned next to one of the tables, and softly hit a clenched fist on its finely polished top.

"I was married to the love of my life 12 years ago. There is no point in even going on this date. We'll both just end up hurt," she spoke softly. For a second, the silence seemed to close in around her, and she found she was having trouble breathing. Suddenly, she realized what exactly it was that was making her nervous. She was scared. Scared of developing feelings for this man she had met once in her life, scared of betraying Ron's memory.

'But aren't you scared of spending the rest of your life alone? Aren't you tired of being lonely?' the little voice whispered again in its eerie way. Hermione simply shrugged one shoulder as she scratched her thumbnail along the table top and turned her head to the side, not wanting to continue the dissection of her feelings any longer.

"I don't know about you," said a deep voice from behind, "but I'd get tired of being lonely." She spun in her chair, wondering who had been reading her thoughts. She saw her date standing near the door, a solemn look on his face. Her heart gave a slight flutter again. He didn't have his hair falling free as he did the previous day; it was tied back in a black ribbon that contrasted drastically with his pale hair. His shirt seemed to mold to his form, and his pants were loose, but not to loose. The trench coat he had on over the ensemble majorly added to his appeal. Not wanting to be caught staring, she glanced at her watch, and with a start realized that she had been thinking so intently that she had managed to become four minutes late.

"I'm sorry to have just walked in, but I saw you sitting there, and the door was unlocked." His eyes took on a slightly hurt look, and he tilted his head down and looked up from under his eyelashes to talk to her.

"If you don't want to go on this date, all you had to do was say so. You didn't have to do a pity date or anything." With the way he was looking at her from under those soft eyelashes, his body saying that he was a proud man, but his face saying he was also a humble one, Hermione felt stirrings in her body she hadn't felt since they had been evoked by Ron. Drawing in a quick, deep breath, and exhaling through her nose, she tried to smile, and not concentrate on the way his shirt stretched across his shoulders.

"No, no, I do. I'd really like to talk some more. It's just, that..." she trailed off slightly, but really did smile when he quirked his eyebrow at her.

"It's just that, what?" he asked, returning the small smile that hers had called forth onto his face.

"Well, I got to thinking over the conversation we had yesterday, and I realized that even though I had been a bit rude to you, you're the first man I've felt like maybe I could really talk to since my husband died. It kind of scared me," she finished, a tad bit embarrassed. Seeing his amused smile at the blush in her cheeks, it made her blush more, so she tried to change the subject.

"Which I apologize for, being rude I mean. I'm honestly not usually like that. You just had me a bit flustered is all. Really..." she frowned slightly when he raised his hand to interrupt her, still chuckling to himself.

"What is so funny?" she asked, slightly annoyed. "Do I amuse you?" He tried valiantly to keep his grin off of his face, but in the end, he failed.

"No, no, not at all. Well, I mean, yes you do amuse me, but it's in a good way. I find you interesting." Trying to keep her annoyance up, she found it rather difficult in the face of his flattering charm. Finally she found herself smiling once more, and she shook her head at herself. Thinking of something else, she did a small twirl.

"So, how do I look? Is it appropriate for wherever it is that we're going?" He nodded to her, discreetly admiring the way her red trimmed with gold shirt shaped around her petite frame, and the way her long black skirt showed class, but not poor taste. For a second, something snagged his attention. Red... and gold? Her shirt was red and gold? Something about that, plus the way that she seemed so familiar to him felt like something he should be able to put his finger on, but just couldn't quite place it.

The silence reigned in then, but he wasn't aware of it as he tried to puzzle out her mystery. Glancing at her again, he noticed her staring at the floor, rolling her ankle back and forth, making her skirt sway softly with the movement. He stepped forward, and reached out to gently raise her chin with one slender finger. Her head came up easily, not at all resisting, and brown eyes met silver, both filled to the brim with curiosity, though for slightly different reasons.

His thumb seemed to come up of its own accord to rub gently back and forth over her lips and he searched her face, not even sure what it was he was looking for. Some clue to her past, to her history.

He felt her draw a shaky breath and realized that his hand had shifted up to rest along her jawbone, his index finger resting on the edge of her earlobe, and he had been leaning his face closer and closer.

Hermione started to lean into what seemed to be a kiss, but she saw a flashback that looked like Draco Malfoy's face the same distance from hers that this man's was, threatening her, and she gasped and jerked her head to the side.

Frowning in puzzlement, he gently turned her head back around. He opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was drowned out by the insistent rapping on the front door. Glad for the excuse to break free, Hermione turned and jogged towards the front door, although her small black high-heels made it slightly difficult for her.

"Yes," she asked the woman standing outside. The woman flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and looked down her nose at Hermione.

"I see that the sign says you close at five tonight, but you're still here, and I'd like to pick up a book. So if you'll let me in, I'll only be a few minutes." Hermione frowned at the woman's demand, poorly disguised as a request.

"I'm sorry," Hermione replied, "But you did read the sign right. We're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow. I'm just here cleaning up." The woman took in Hermione's flushed features, and glanced past her to see a handsome man re-tying his hair ribbon.

"Cleaning up. Yeah. Right." She gave Hermione a pointed look and turned on her heel to merge into the crowd. Hermione sighed as she turned back around to face her date. He only smiled at her and held his arm out in a gentlemanly way. She hesitated for only a split second before slipping her arm through his and smiling back.

"Are we ready?" he asked her. She nodded, and locked the door behind them as they slipped through it. As she began to look around, she groaned.

"What is it?" he asked, eyebrows drawn together. She held her keys up and jangled them.

"I forgot my purse, which means I have no where to put these." She smiled ruefully. "No pockets." He smiled back as he reached out and plucked them from her small hand and dropped them uncaringly into his pocket.

"Just remember to get them when I take you home tonight," he told her. "Knowing me, I'd forget about them and not find them for a month!"

Laughing together, they slipped into the crowd in the fading sunlight, as he took twisting and turning cobbled streets to whatever location it was he had in mind. Laughing and joking with each other, talking about whatever happened to catch their eye, they were taking their time walking, neither in any particular hurry to get anywhere. He had been pointing to a shirt which he felt was an appalling color, about to make a joke about it, when he felt her slip off his arm. He turned towards her, a questioning look on his face, only to see the back of her curls disappearing into the crowd. Totally bewildered, he glanced both directions looking for some clue as to the reason she had just taken off, before he began to push through the crowd after her.

It wasn't too long before he found her, standing next to a lamp-post, one arm hanging limply at her side, and the fingers on her other hand covering her lips. He could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Glancing back towards where they had just been standing, his heart went out to her when he realized what it was that she was looking at.

The couple across the street kept sharing loving looks, and they were holding hands with their little girl, who didn't look quite sure if she could walk by herself. Hermione bit her lip when the woman gave a laugh filled with love at something the man said, and leaned in to give him a kiss over their little girl's head. The little girl looked up at her parents and frowned when she discovered that their attention wasn't focused solely on her, and tugged her father's hand in an attempt to be picked up. Her father obliged, took his wife's hand, and took both of them into a clothing store.

Looking at Hermione's troubled face, he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You miss him a lot, huh? Your husband, I mean," he asked her, wondering silently to himself why his heart cared so much for this woman whom he had known for less than a day; why his heart was thudding in his chest, not wanting to hear her answer, even when he knew what it was going to be.

She nodded mutely, and his heart clenched, as he knew it would. She looked up at him, and noticing the way she twisted her body, he thought she was going to fall into his arms and cry against his chest. And as surprised as he was when his heart gave another jump at this thought, he was even more surprised when she only gave a shaky laugh and wiped at her eyes.

"I don't know why it's hitting me so hard right now. It's all I've been able to think about lately. I just keep seeing stuff like that and thinking, 'That should have been us.'" His heart began to ache when she had finished speaking, and he raised a hand to rub his chest, wondering why it kept acting so funny.

Suddenly remembering something that he had been wondering, he opened his mouth to ask her, but seeing the look on her face, all that came out was a sigh before he closed it again.

"What?" she asked, before blinking and looking at his hand, which was still resting on her shoulder. He jerked it back as if her shoulder was a red-hot coal.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. She just gave him a little smile which was the most she could muster up at the moment. Then a slightly curious look crossed her face, taking away some of the pain that had been visible.

"What was it you were going to say?" He only ducked his head a little, looking around for something that might be able to help him stall.

"I…uhhh…" He spotted a small cat sitting on the curb of the street and he smiled brightly, though it was false.

"Isn't that a cute cat?" He held the smile as he looked at her, even thought she gave him a 'Yeah, like that worked' expression.

"Yes. It's cute. Don't change the subject," she said, sounding only slightly annoyed. His hand came up to the back of his neck, and he rubbed it, not sure what to say.

"Well, you see…Well, we don't know each other's names. But I thought that right in the middle of an emotional moment was probably not the best time in the world to ask."

Hermione's eyes widened a bit before she nodded.

"Ah. Yes, I can see that. Well, umm…" she coughed slightly and wrung her hands together as if she wasn't sure what to do with them.

"Well, now that I'm over my emotional moment, should we continue on?" She glanced at him nervously, before she looked away, scared that he would tell her she was a freak, and to just go home.

"Of course we should," he said indignantly. Simply smiling and shaking his head at her, even though he hadn't missed her avoidance of his question, he offered his arm to her once again before he led her off in the direction of their restaurant.

"I understand," he said softly, after a few minutes of silence. "Don't feel bad about hurting because you lost someone you love, even if you did lose them a long time ago." She looked up at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. When he had started to speak, it was as if they were having this conversation in a car at night while driving somewhere, not walking down a street in London.

"I lost someone once too. She was very important to me, and it was my fault she died. I haven't forgiven myself for that, and it hurts me everyday. I would never judge anyone because they care about someone that's gone."

Hermione's eyes stung with tears, for both herself and him, and her hand tightened its grip on his arm. She didn't slow her stride, but as she took in the beautiful sunset before them and all of the laughing, happy people around them, it didn't seem as if their heartfelt, painful conversation belonged in the innocence she suddenly saw surrounding her.

"Was it your wife?" she asked softly, not sure if she wanted to ask why it was his fault. He smiled a little at that thought.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It was my mother." Hermione continued to look at the ground as she walked, trying to discreetly wipe her eyes.

"Tell me about her," she said shakily. When he just looked at her sideways, she added "Please." He was silent for a few more moments before he took a deep breath.

"She was a beautiful woman, my mother," he said smiling, as he became lost in his memories, leaving Hermione to try to keep him from bumping into people.

"She had this long blonde hair that I loved to play with when I was little. She would always humor me and let me brush it, even though she knew it was just a ploy so that I could mess it up. She had silver eyes too, like mine. She always said she had no idea where they came from, because she didn't know of anyone else in her family who had them." He glanced at Hermione abruptly, only to see that she was gazing at him, apparently drinking in everything he was saying. Smiling because she was truly listening, he continued.

"She loved roses - her favorite flower. By the time I was fifteen I practically hated the things because she always had them all over the house. Now I wish that just once, I had brought her some that I had cut myself." Not realizing that Hermione was distressed by that sentence, he continued on, with his eyes somewhere far away.

"She wasn't always peaches and cream though. Mother had a superiority complex. A very big one. She tried to be nice, but she always thought that she was just a little bit better than everyone else. She knew that she did, and tried to control it, but when she had to go into public, that nose of hers would go right up into the air, and she wouldn't even realize it." Hermione had to laugh at that, and that brought him out of his thoughts. He smiled softly back at her before taking a look around.

"My gosh, we've walked right past the restaurant! I'm sorry." Chuckling warmly at himself, he turned Hermione around.

"Come on, my dear, our dinner awaits us." He said dramatically. She frowned up at him in confusion.

"But the only restaurant we passed was…" She trailed off as her eyes widened.

"You got us reservations at The Isle?!" Her eyes shone brightly, with no trace of tears left in them, as she made him stop and turn to look at her. He couldn't help but be amazed at her mood swings.

"Yes, I did. I hope that's ok?" He stated it as a question, and Hermione simply beamed up at him.

"This is much better than ok. I've always wanted to go here, but never had the time! Oh thank you so much! Let's go!" Laughing as he let her pull him along by the hand, he couldn't help but notice what her hips did for that skirt as she walked.

Entranced, he simply let her lead him for the entire ten seconds it took to walk back to the restaurant. As he suddenly remembered something, he snapped his gaze up to her hair as he tugged her hand back towards him so that she would turn around.

She simply looked at him confused, even though she was still smiling. His smiled widely back at her, unconsciously noting how much of that he had been doing around her.

"You never told me your name."

A/N: Hope you all liked it and that it was ok. I'm not sure where I'm going to go from here, because there are just so many possible roads. I promise, promise, promise to have the next chapter up soon! Cross my heart, hope to die.


	4. Different chapter Night's Tide

**A/N: I am so sorry!!! I uploaded the redone chapter for my other story, Dancing with the Devil!!! This is so embarrassing. I took it down, and this is actually chapter 4. I am so sorry for the mix up!!**

On the other note, I hope you all like this chapter, although I don't know if I do or not. I would once again like to thank AlyBaby for beta-ing for me. She gets credit for the song too, for telling me which parts to put in there! Alyssa, you rock!

* * *

_You might need time to think it over_

_But I'm just fine with moving forward_

_I'll ease your mind_

_If you'll give me the chance_

_I'll never make you cry_

_C'mon let's try_

_I don't want another pretty face_

_I don't want just anyone to hold_

_I don't want my love to go to waste_

_I want you and your beautiful soul_

'_Beautiful Soul' - Jesse McCartney_

Hermione hesitated for a few seconds. She really, truly liked this man, and she didn't want the first personal thing that she told him to be a lie.

But then again, she had been a different person for two years, and how would she explain any difficulties that came up?

"Rhiannon Johnson," she said softly, looking off to the right before meeting his eyes. He simply looked at her for a few seconds, knowing that she wasn't telling the full truth because she wouldn't look him in the eye, but he dismissed it.

'After all,' he thought to himself, 'it's not as if you don't have a fake name too. Don't be a hypocrite.' He smiled widely, before holding out his hand to shake.

"Hello Rhiannon. I'm Tobias. Tobias Alexander. Nice to meet you." Hermione couldn't help but laugh, which came as more of a giggle, as she reached her hand out to shake his.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," she replied, exaggeratingly sticking her nose in the air and trying to sound fancy. Draco simply laughed at her before taking her hand to lead her into the restaurant.

Their fingers slid together almost of their own accord, and though they both pretended not to notice, they were acutely aware. Hermione wondered faintly if it was possible to suddenly grow a thousand extra, very sensitive nerves in her hand.

Hermione gasped, her eyes wide, as her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a magnificent chandelier as soon as they walked through the revolving door of the restaurant. It was huge and a very shiny gold, with crystals dangling everywhere, making rainbows reflect faintly onto the ceiling.

Hermione's eyebrows rose as high as they would go when she caught sight of the giant fountain directly underneath the chandelier. It was made of black stone, polished until it had a shine, and directly in the middle was a white cherub in a sky blue robe holding a gold harp. The water spray shot out of the top of the harp, making a perfect circle directly around the stone the cherub was sitting on.

The tables were small, very private because of the way they were spaced, with white table cloths and candles on top of them.

The giant Roman pillars that went from floor to ceiling were almost hidden behind giant green plants in porcelain pots. Hermione was sure she was going to get dizzy from turning in circles if she kept on looking.

She had been so busy with her inspection she hadn't even noticed Draco clear their reservation, and was jolted out of her gaping by a tug on her hand, which was still intertwined with Draco's.

He simply smirked at her as he pulled her along behind the waiter who was escorting them to their table, and Hermione was once again reminded of how much he looked like Draco Malfoy.

She once again dismissed that thought, because she knew without a doubt that there was no way the Slytherin Prince would be in the muggle world, escorting whom he believed to be a muggle to a dinner that would cost more than she makes in a month.

She gasped, her eyes wide, as the thought of money occurred to her. Draco gave her a funny look, and she hastily averted her eyes, embarrassed beyond all belief.

Draco noticed how uncomfortable she seemed, but he didn't want to say anything with their waiter right there, so he made himself a mental note to ask her later.

The waiter stopped them at a table in the very back corner, pulling out a chair and gesturing for Hermione to sit.

"I will be back in a few minutes to take you order. What would you like to drink? We have whatever it is that you would want." Hermione's rapid mood swing condition kicked in as she noticed that he had a funny accent, just like waiters in fancy restaurants do in the movies, and had to fight not to laugh.

Draco looked over at Hermione, who seemed to be trying not to laugh, and resisted the urge to teasingly roll his eyes at her.

"Do you have any preference?" he asked, hoping that she would say no so that he could try to impress her a little. When she shook her head, still biting her lip with her eyes dancing, he unconsciously puffed up his chest a little.

"We will take the best wine you have." Hermione definitely stopped wanting to laugh at that, and the waiter only raised one eyebrow before bowing, then walking away.

"The best?" Hermione questioned, her voice faint. "Tobias, that's going to be very, very expensive." He simply smiled proudly as if to say, 'I know,' not noticing that it was the first time she had said his name. Shaking her head, Hermione looked down at her menu. When she saw the prices, her eyebrows went up once again.

She faintly wondered if they were going to make a new home in her hair.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked, sounding concerned. "On that note, what made you upset earlier? I would have asked, but I didn't want to in front of the waiter." Hermione kept her eyes on her menu, embarrassed to look at him. Picking at the edge of the menu, she said.

"You see, I'm not exactly well off in the financial department. I said earlier that I never came because I never had the time. And that's true. But I also never had the money, and it didn't occur to me at the time that it's extremely rude to think that your date is going to pay for everything simply because he's the male. But, I won't be able to pay for my part. I can pay you back, of course, but it will take a little while. If you don't want to eat here anymore, that's fine." He just smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it.

"Rhiannon, it's fine. I asked you to dinner, I'll cover everything. Don't worry about it." She looked up at him, her eyes full of worry.

"Are you sure? I will feel so bad if I let you do that." He just winked at her, not bothering with a verbal reply.

Hermione swallowed, thinking how it should be illegal for a wink to be that sexy. Not having any type of physical relationship in two years was certainly taking its toll on her. He was a very sexy man, and right then she stopped trying to deny that she was attracted to him.

"You do look rather impressed," Draco said impishly, and Hermione didn't know if he was talking about himself or the restaurant.

"Well, it's not every day that I eat somewhere where it costs more than my apartment to look at the menu," she replied, deciding to play it safe. Draco grinned, knowing that she had been checking him out, and it definitely made him feel good. Rhiannon was not your average woman, that was obvious, and she impressed him simply by not wanting a roll in the hay, but wanting to get to know the person behind the looks.

Dinner passed by quickly for both of them, for it was filled with delicious food and interesting conversation.

"No, that's not what he was saying at all!" Hermione insisted, referring to the problem of Schrodinger's Cat, not even noticing when the waiter took both of their empty plates off of the table.

"There's not an answer to it, it's simply to make you think. The question you should ask after reading the problem should be 'Is the cat dead OR alive', or 'Is the cat dead AND alive'." Draco simple stared at her in amazement, a small smile on his face.

"What?" she asked self-consciously, wondering if her brain coming into play had given him second thoughts about taking her to dinner.

"You are the only woman I know that I could take to dinner and actually hold an intelligent conversation with. Not only are you beautiful, you're smart. You just continue to amaze me," he said, very simply.

Hermione blushed, looking down at the table, the word 'beautiful' echoing in her head. No one had called her that since Ron had died, and she found that it felt very, very good to hear again.

Worried that he had opened his mouth and stuck both feet in by saying something that forward before they had even left the restaurant after their first dinner date, he mentally slapped himself.

"Rhiannon, I am incredibly sorry if I offended you. I shouldn't have said something like that when we've just met, even if it is the truth. Can you forgive me?" he asked, sounding entirely serious.

Hermione looked up at him, her blush increasing.

"Oh, of course! I should have said 'thank you' instead of just sitting here like an idiot. It wasn't forward. It was…very nice to hear. It's just that the last person who called me beautiful was my husband, and it brought back memories." Draco looked at her closely, wondering what she was thinking about, for she looked completely lost in her thoughts.

_Hermione was standing next to the kitchen sink in her white bathrobe, staring out the window as she sipped her morning tea when she felt a pair of arms slip around her waist._

"_Good morning beautiful," Ron whispered softly into her ear as she leaned back against him. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his compliment that she still loved to hear, even after ten years._

"_Good morning yourself," she replied back. Ron rested his chin on top of her head, silently thanking whatever god was responsible for giving him the blessed life he had._

"_Do you get to stay home today?" she asked, hoping for a day with just the two of them that they could spend under the covers in bed, cuddling…or doing other things, whichever they were in the mood for._

"_No," he said regretfully. He had already gotten dressed, and was going to have to leave soon. He tightened his grip on her, not wanting to ever let her go._

"_I'll love you forever, you know that?" he asked her, as he did once a day since they had been married._

"_Forever is an awfully long time," she said, knowing how he would answer._

"_Exactly," he said simply. Hermione smiled before setting her tea down on the counter, then turning in his arms. She hugged him as tight as she could; wishing he would never leave._

"_Don't forget that we have to go to dinner at Harry's tonight, okay?" he reminded her. She nodded against his chest, still refusing to let go._

"_I love you," she whispered to him. She looked up at him as his eyes fluttered closed and he leaned down to kiss her._

_Feeling it was over far too soon, she stepped back away from him, smiling as he blew a kiss at her before Apparating away._

_Hermione smiled softly to herself before waving her wand at her cup, which promptly washed itself before retiring into the cabinet._

_After a few hours of house cleaning, she heard her doorbell ringing. Sighing irritably, she flicked her wand for the broom to stop sweeping and went to see who it was._

_The head of the Auror department was standing outside her door, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to wring his hands together, and Hermione immediately felt worry bubble up inside her stomach._

"_Can I help you," she asked politely, trying not to sound upset._

"_Are you Hermione Weasley?" he asked, his voice uncomfortable. She nodded at him slowly, feeling as if she was going to throw up._

"_Ma'am, I'm afraid your husband is no longer with us. We had a raid, and he was hit with…with the killing curse. From the corner of the room he was in, there was simply no place for him to go, and he was hit head on." Hermione looked at him blankly before suddenly laughing, sounding not quite sane._

"_Ron put you up to this didn't he? Did he pay you? I'm going to have his hide for this when he gets home!" She was still laughing when the man sadly shook his head, and her laugh turned into a strangled sob._

_She sank to the floor numbly right where she was, unable to do more than gasp dry sobs, not even hearing Harry's voice as he Apparated in behind her before sinking down beside her and wrapping her in a tight hug._

"Rhiannon," she heard someone call softly.

"Rhiannon," they said again, a little louder, and she snapped out of her thoughts to see Draco gazing at her worriedly.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking closely at her face. Hermione nodded, once again embarrassed.

"Are you ready to leave?" he asked her, knowing that their waiter was giving them dirty looks for just sitting there when they had already finished dinner.

She nodded again and started to get up when Draco held up a hand to stop her.

"Please allow me," he said, using they accent their waiter had, and Hermione had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Draco came around and pulled her chair out for her, before taking her hand into his once again as he led her to their waiter.

This time Draco purposely slid their fingers together, wanting to get just a little closer to this unique woman with her intriguing past.

"Just put it on my tab," he told the waiter as they walked by him. The waiter started to open his mouth to protest, but at the stern look Draco gave him he shut it again, before saying, "Of course."

Taking a deep breath of fresh, night air, Hermione tugged him in the direction of her apartment. They walked slowly down the street, neither one talking, simply enjoying the moment.

"Tell me about him," Draco said abruptly, shattering the silence. Hermione was going to protest until she remembered doing the same thing to him earlier in the evening.

"Well," she started slowly, "we were best friends since we were eleven. We had another friend too, and the three of us were practically inseparable. We did everything together. It was a typical boy and girl friendship, with all of the same fun and fights, until the last year in school. We went to a…a co-ed boarding school, and one night he just kissed me. I had liked him for a while, so of course I was blown away that he liked me. You know how teenagers are at that age." She looked up at him, wondering what he was thinking, only to find him looking at her. Blushing once again, she looked down at her feet and continued.

"Then, a week before graduation, he proposed. We were outside, just sitting around, and he popped the question." She let out a little laugh.

"He couldn't even ask. He just held the box out and blushed redder than a sunset. Of course I said yes." She continued to muse on that memory, and Draco took the opportunity to look at her left hand.

There was no ring.

She must have caught him looking, because she followed his gaze then shrugged.

"About a year after I lost him I took it off. It hurt too much to see it every day, so I put it in my jewelry box." Draco didn't say anything, wondering how to phrase his next question.

"Rhiannon," he said carefully, "where did you go to school? As far as I know, there isn't a co-ed boarding school in London." He watched her out of the corner of his eye, only to see her start abruptly coughing.

"Well," she said, after her coughing fit was over. "It wasn't in London; it was a school in Scotland. I had to try very hard not to pick up the accent." She once again avoided his eyes, leaving Draco to dwell on how much her 'co-ed boarding school' made him think of Hogwarts.

"Tobias," she said softly, interrupting his thoughts, "I really think that I need to get home. It's that way," she said, indicating the direction she meant with a nod of her head.

He nodded and let her lead him where she would. They walked in silence for a few blocks, both silently contemplating their own thoughts.

"Well," Hermione said, both with relief and disappointment, "this is home." She pointed towards a particular door, walking over to it. Draco noted that it said 27B, because he definitely had plans on getting to know her better, and knowing where she lived was a good place to start.

"It's not much but it's mine," she joked. He smiled at her, but when she started to step up to unlock the door, Draco didn't let go of her hand.

She turned and looked at him, her face expressionless.

'Does he think I'm going to invite him in,' she thought to herself, totally aghast. 'But he seems so much better than that!'

"Rhi, can I be forward again?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes. She stared back, afraid of what he was going to say.

"Rhi?" she asked, trying to delay the moment. He smiled a real smile at her, and Hermione was almost blown away by how handsome he was.

"It's easier to say than Rhiannon," he explained, never dropping his smile.

"So, can I be forward?" he continued. Hermione studied his face, not wanting to have to slap him if he asked to come in, and slowly nodded.

"Rhi, I think that your husband would want you to be happy, not spend the rest of your life alone. All because you loved and lost once doesn't mean you can't move on. You need to let him go." Hermione took his words to heart, promising herself that she would think about them later as she absently noticed that they had both been leaning in closer the entire time that he had been talking.

Their eyes fluttered shut as their lips touched softly, resting for a split second before Hermione pulled back, eyes wide.

Both of their hearts were pounding in their chests, Draco unable to think about anything except how beautiful she was, inside and out.

"Why do you like me?" she asked him, her voice a whisper. "You could have anyone, and don't deny it, yet you're here, kissing me." Draco looked at her, before deciding to tell her the truth.

"Because I've had my fill of beautiful faces with nothing inside. I don't want someone who takes one look at me and decides that they're in love with me. I want someone with a beautiful soul to match a beautiful appearance. I knew I had found that in you the moment we sat down in the booth yesterday. I wanted to get to know you. I still do." His voice had dropped to a whisper by the time he got to the end, and Hermione had tears in her eyes. Not exactly sure why she was crying, Hermione just wanted to escape.

"I have to go Tobias. Thank you for dinner." Before he could say another word, Hermione had opened her door and slipped inside, shutting it firmly behind her.

Closing his eyes as he hung his head, he turned around and slowly made his way down the sidewalk onto the street. Kicking himself mentally for being a fool, he made a fist and hit his thigh as hard as he could.

Frowning in confusion when his fist hit something he didn't expect, he looked in his pocket. His eyes widened in realization before he quickly looked around and made a detour down a different road.

Stopping outside of the shop that was his destination, he read the sign that stated when it opened and closed. Whistling a tune as he headed off home, he thought of everything he could say to redeem himself in Hermione's eyes.

Her keys jangled along to the rhythm of his steps from inside his pocket.

* * *

A/N: The Schrodinger's Cat thing I mentioned is very interesting, and I recommend you look it up on Google. I'd explain, but it's rather difficult. And now, on to the thank-you's!

Lorett: Hi! Thank you for the offer of beta-ing. If I didn't already have one, I would have recruited you! And I will go read your story!

Lala-the-Panda: Lol, thank you! My dad's always teasing me about how I'm writing a million dollar selling book, so I'll have to tell him what a page-turner this is! And don't you hate it when those cookies do that? Wink

Foxrcrchik99: I'm glad you like it! Hope you liked this chapter also!

FairySecrets: First off, I love your name! It has a very enchanting sound to it. And thank you! I hope this chapter was as good as the others!

Natyslacks: Oh, thank you! That's really sweet. By now, of course, you know what name she used. I just figured it would seem to easy for him to figure it out if it was something close to her name. Thanks again!

Darktwistedpoet: Thanks! I really appreciate it! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!

_This is for people who reviewed the OTHER chapter 4!!!_

Unheardscreams: Umm...Sorry about the mix up! Yes, it was Malfoy (it always is in my storiesl; i'm a total H/D shipper). Thanks for reviewing!

Darktwistedpoet: Err...thanks for pointing out what I did! I'm embarrassed beyond all belief. I can't believe I did that. Thank you!!!

Revelyn: I hope this helped. I didn't suddenly switch plots for no reason, I just got mixed up because I'm writing both stories at once! I'm incredibly sorry.

Lauren: You would probably like my other story, Dancing with the Devil. That's what the "fake" chapter 4 was, the redone first chapter to Dancing with the Devil. This one may get exciting, i'm not sure yet, but if you're looking for angst/murder/mystery/sex, all the icing on the cake, then check out my other one. Thanks for reviewing!

Foxrcrchik: Thank you! That really inspires me. No, I didn't suddenly switch plots, I just got really confused. Thanks for sticking with me, and for reviewing!


	5. Shadow Magic

A/N: Hi! I hope everyone likes this. This is basically a filler chapter, because I needed some reason for Hermione to be able to let go and move on. I decided to go ahead and post this without my beta-reader because I don't know where she has gone. I haven't heard from her in weeks. Alybaby, I miss ya!

Disclaimer: Oh yeah. Mine. Uh-huh. Because I'm just that good. Horsesh!t.

* * *

Hermione stumbled into the shower the next morning, twisting the knob all of the way to hot. Leaning her head against the wall, she pondered the events from the night before as she let the steady rhythm of the water sooth away her headache.

'I like him. Maybe too much?' she thought to herself, sighing lazily as she reached down to squeeze shampoo into her hand.

'I admit it,' she continued, working her fingers against her scalp. She arched her back, smiling in contentment when it gave a loud, satisfying crack.

'It's about time,' the little voice whispered. 'I thought that you were never going to figure it out.' She snorted to herself as she squeezed body shampoo onto her pouf before lathering it up.

'But what would Ron say,' she asked it, her movements stilling, before she shook her head to rid it of unwanted thoughts before continuing to scrub away at her skin.

'I think Tobias is right,' the little voice countered. 'Ron loved you. He would want you to be happy, no matter what.' Hermione couldn't find any argument that could counter that.

She sighed to herself as she stepped out of the steamy glass and wrapped a rather large, white towel around her.

She made her way into her bedroom, and slowly pulled clothes on, the wet tangles of her hair making damp patches on the back of her red, button up blouse. She growled irritably at it as she walked back across her apartment into the bathroom, looking for her hairbrush.

The enticing smell of coffee wafted in through the door, making her hurry as she tried to get her hair and makeup in order.

Making a quick detour into her bedroom, she headed back out the door with one shoe on, hopping up and down as she made her way down the hallway, trying to get the other one in the same position. Sighing in relief as her shoe finally slipped into place, she stopped and fixed her hair, smoothing out unseen wrinkles in her shirt before walking calmly into her kitchen, as if she had very important guests.

She grinned to herself, shaking her head about how childish she was sometimes as she poured her coffee into the cup she had gotten from the cabinet.

'Now,' she thought to herself, as she took the first sip of that life giving beverage, 'what would Ron do if he were me, I had died, and some gorgeous woman who had everything he could ever ask for came up trying to date him.'

"I'd take her up on it," said a voice from behind her. Hermione froze, her cup slipping from her hand to shatter against the white tile of the kitchen floor, the coffee spreading in a large, dark puddle.

She turned slowly, heart thumping wildly against her chest like a wild bird stuck in a too small cage.

Ron stood behind her with his hands clasped behind his back, dressed the same as the last day she had seen him. He seemed to be at an eternal 28, for he hadn't aged a day, although he did seem to be slightly see-through.

Her jaw worked soundlessly, and Ron smiled at her, not saying a word.

"Are you a ghost?" she finally got out, wondering to herself if she was going mad.

"No," he told her, not making any movements towards her, leaving his hands behind his back.

"I've went on. But every wizard has the opportunity to go to someone they loved at a crucial turning point in that person's life. They allowed me to come because what I say will make a difference in your future."

"They?" she asked, still trying to process the fact that her late husband was standing in her kitchen, holding a conversation with her.

"I can't say any more than that on that subject," he said with a smile. He took a step towards her, and as he seemed to solidify Hermione took a step back, her hands reaching behind her to clutch the edge of the counter top.

She glanced around nervously before hearing the crunch of what was left of her coffee cup as she shifted her weight all to one foot. She grabbed a towel off the counter by the microwave, glancing at Ron nervously before kneeling down to clean up the mess.

Ron just watched as she stood and edged around him, dumping the mess into the trash bin before edging around him again to rinse the towel out in the sink.

He took the opportunity that was presented to him as she had her back turned to him and stepped up close behind her, resting his hands on either side of her body on the counter. He felt her stiffen, then turn slowly in his arms. He didn't move a muscle, simply looked into those chocolate eyes he had missed for two years.

"I never wanted to scare you Hermione," he said softly, taking a deep breathe to smell her perfume, which hadn't changed since he had bought her that first bottle of it when they were still in Hogwarts.

She tentatively reached one hand out towards his chest. Her hand stopped a mere half an inch away and her fingers curled back in before she took a deep breath and laid her palm flat against his chest.

Her eyes widened when she could feel him, could feel the warmth of his body, the fabric of the shirt that they had spent an hour arguing over when she had convinced him to buy it.

She raised her other hand up and used both hands to give him a pat down his chest and stomach before looking back up at him with her eyes large and full of tears before throwing herself at him, hugging him as tight as she possibly could.

He hugged her back, squeezing her as he buried his face into her lilac smelling hair, knowing that after today, he would never get to do this again.

When they finally parted Hermione was trying valiantly not to cry, and Ron had to reach a hand up to wipe away a few tears of his own.

"How long do you get to stay," she asked breathlessly, all thoughts of going to work swept out of her head.

"Until you have to leave for work," he said softly to remind her, glancing at the clock. She followed his gaze, seeing that it read 6:15 a.m., and gasped.

"But that means you have less than fifteen minutes!" Hermione cried in protest. He smiled sadly and nodded at her.

"Which means that we need to talk about that handsome stranger who is trying to date you," he told her, reaching out to grab her hand and led her into her living room.

He sat down on the couch and turned sideways, before pulling Hermione to sit in between his legs. She leaned back onto his chest automatically, ten years worth of practice taking over.

Neither said anything for a few minutes, simply reveling in the feel of touching once again, before Hermione sighed.

"I feel like I'm betraying your…well, memory, if I start dating Tobias," she said, reaching down to play with a loose thread on the end of his shirt.

'Tobias,' Ron mused to himself. 'Well, I like that better than his real name.'

"You're not," he told her, bringing himself out of his memories of the past, and she could feel the truth in his statement. She said nothing in reply, as she wasn't sure what to say.

"If our situation was reversed, and some beautiful woman who was rich was wanting to fall in love with me, and you knew that she could give me everything that I had ever dreamed of, would you want me to have nothing to do with her simply because the first woman I had ever loved had passed on?" he asked her, knowing what she would say.

"Of course not," she replied indignantly. "I would want you move on, not sit around mooning over me! Ronald Weasley, why in the world would you think I would want you too…Oh!" she said, then smiled sheepishly.

"And that's the reason I came, love," he told her gently, trying to ignore the tingly feeling inside his stomach that was telling him that it was almost time to go.

"If I hadn't, you would have let that Griffyndor righteousness talk you out of dating him, and then you would have spent the rest of your life miserable, always thinking about what 'Could-Have-Been'." Hermione said nothing in reply, simply picking up one of his rather large hands and tracing the lines of his palm with her finger tips.

"By the way," he told her softly, "tell Harry I said hello when you see him. And I promise that you'll see him sometime soon." She said nothing, trying not to cry as she thought of Harry, and everything that he had been to them.

Ron felt a tear slip down his cheek, followed by another, as he took in everything about her, trying to memorize every detail, knowing that this would be the last time that he would ever touched her, ever smell her perfume, ever hear her say his name. The last time he would ever see her looking into his eyes.

Memories of all of their years together came crashing into his brain, from the Mountain Troll their first-year at Hogwarts, to him proposing next to the tree by the lake, to Dumbledore pronouncing them Husband and Wife, to their fifth year anniversary in Paris, to the silly fight that they had over him wanting her to buy that negligee, to the last morning they were together, to their last kiss.

He tilted his head up to look at the ceiling, trying to blink back his tears as his heart broke at the thought of losing her all over again.

He finally gave a short, dry sob as the tingling inside his stomach became demanding. He coughed slightly before he softly nudged her forward with his chest.

"It's time for me to leave Hermione," Ron said hoarsely, pushing her slightly from behind to help her stand up. He stood after her, looking down at her with eyes full of pain and sorrow, never wanting to leave her.

She simply looked up at him, her heart breaking all over again. He had been her first everything. Her first crush, her first kiss, her first husband, her first time having sex, her first true love. Now he would go into that category under the first man she had ever lost twice.

"I can make the hurt stop Hermione," he told her, raising one hand to place it against her red shirt over heart. She gazed at him a few moments before nodding, deciding that she wasn't going to try to understand it.

His hand glowed a soft, bright blue against her chest, and she gasped as she felt all of the heartache melting away. After a few seconds, it was gone completely. She still missed him terribly, but the dull, aching pain of wound that had never healed properly was gone.

She started crying, unable to stop herself, and threw herself into his arms, kissing him passionately. He kissed her back with the same enthusiasm, one hand wrapping around her waist to pull her close to him, one coming up to bury itself in her hair. She could taste the saltiness of tears in the kiss, but she didn't know if they were hers or his.

He slowly cooled it down, the tingling in his stomach making him feel like he was going to be sick, even though he knew it was the last time he would ever kiss her. He slowly pulled away, his blue eyes twice as bright because of the shine of tears as he leaned down and softly kissed her one last time, then kissed her nose, then her forehead.

"By the way," he told her, reaching a hand up to wipe away the tear stains in her makeup, "Tobias has them." She blinked at him, not sure at the abrupt change, then looked at him in confusion.

"He has what," she asked, wracking her brain trying to figure out what in the world it was that Tobias had.

"You'll find out," he said mischievously, the old Ron from Hogwarts shining through for a second. He pushed her curly hair out of her face, searching it as he memorized every detail.

"I'll love you forever," he told her, and she let out a sob even though she was smiling.

"Forever is an awfully long time," she choked out, wrapping him once again in another hug and burying her face into his neck. He hugged her back, the tears coming once again as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Exactly," he whispered. He closed his eyes as his heart gave another dull ache.

"Remember," he told her, neither of them moving from their position, "that my memory shouldn't stop you from dating Tobias. He is a very good man, and I'll support both of you with anything that happens in the future. You deserve to be happy." Hermione nodded her head, knowing that he would feel it. She felt as if a large weight had been lifted off of her chest, and she knew with certainty, even though she was hugging Ron, that the next time Tobias kissed her, she would definitely kiss him back.

Ron began to see the blue light shining from underneath his skin, but held on for a few seconds longer, wanting to never have to let her go. Wanting to simply hold her forever. He hated himself for loving her enough to let her go.

Finally, unable to stand it any longer, he pulled back from her, gazing into her eyes with all the love he had ever felt evident on his face. The blue light began to crack his skin and his hair was going everywhere in the wind as a blue column of light surrounded him. He gazed at her through the sparkles, and they both smiled even though the tears ran freely down both of their cheeks.

"I love you," she told him as he began to fade into the light. He smiled at her, his heart breaking again.

"I know. But it's still okay to love someone else. Always remember that." Hermione simply nodded at him, unable to speak.

Ron smiled at her, a true smile unmixed with sadness, a smile she had been missing for two years.

"You're still beautiful, you know?" he asked her, his love for her spilling out into the air.

Then he was gone.

Hermione collapsed to her knees, bawling into her hands. It hurt, but not like it had before. She still loved him, but now she felt ready to move on.

And through her tears, she was still smiling.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I made myself cry when I was reading it, but I cry over everything. Movies, books, etc. I'm a total romantic. Anyway, PUH-LEASE review! Thank ya much!! 

And on to the thank-yous!

D-daygirl: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter as much as you liked my others!

TomFeltonsDancer: Lol, great name! You got lucky with a job like that! Anyway, yeah, the muggle world straightened him out. We all new he was a gallant gentleman at heart! And I hope that this chapter made you cry, since that was my intention! Thanks!!

Babeyx0brunette: I'm glad you love this one! And welcome to the FF.N writer's club. It's the best! Whenever you get your story posted let me know and I'll go read and review for you. I always love new stories! Thanks for reviewing!

Shayla: Thank you! I'm sorry I didn't let you know how long it would be. I have had it done since I posted the last one, but I was waiting on my beta-reader. I still haven't heard from her. I hope she's ok! Anyway, thank you so much, and I'm glad you like it!

Twincool: Thanks! That's my favorite part too! I'm glad you like it!

xXxRiP2PaCxXx: Thanks! Lol, you're review really made me feel good! Now if only I could get my boyfriend to say that about me! (J/k!) Anyway, thank you so much for your review. I hope you liked this chapter as well!

Spike1368: Lol, not for a while. I already have that chapter written actually, but it's a little ways ahead in the future. We'll get there though! Thank you for reviewing!


End file.
